Sorting machine



Dec. 9, 1941.

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' SORTING MACHINE Filed May 21, 1940 '7' Sheets-Sheet 3 IN V EN TOR.

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Dec. 9', 1941. M. MAUL ETAL 2,265,442

SORTING MACHINE Filed May 21, 1940 7 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVEN TOR.

ATTORNEYS.

Dec. 9, 1941. M. MAUL ETAL 2,265,442

SORTING MACHINE Filed May 21, 1940 '7 Sheets-Sheet 5 N/LJ I N V EN TORS By 2M ATTORNEYS.

Dec. 9, 1941'. MAUL ETAL SORTING MACHINE Filed May 2]., 1940 7 Sheets-Sheet 6 o O r w N O n O N w 0 m oo 5 w 90 v 00 m 0 0 $9 m 0 O 0. OOO 000 N, o 00 78. 3 OO O R a 54; a H H H NM w m T E W W WWW. r Y B 3 d mm mm M m w mm Dec. 9, 1941. M. MAUL ETAL 2,255,442

SORTING MACHINE Filed May 21, 1940 '7 Sheets-Sheet '7 INVENTORS XTTORNEYS.

Patented Dec. 9, 1941 2,265,442 F F 1 CE SORTING MACHINE Michael Maul, Berlin-Johannisthal, and Karl Hummel, Berlin-Charlottenburg, Germany, assignors to the firm Deutsche Hollerith MaschinenGesellschaft, m. b. H., Berlin-Lechter felde, Germany Application 12 Claims.

May 21, 1940, Serial No. 336,370 Germany May 22, 1939 The present invention relates to improvements in sorting machines and particularly to that form of sorting machine in which sorting of I record cards is effected according to the designations thereon in a number ofpockets which is less, in number than the designations. I

The present machine deals with the construction of a sorting machine of a relatively simple type which is based upon the principle of sorting records according to designations thereon and which are automatically selected in succession. While previous constructions have been devised with this object in view, the greatly reduced speed of sorting operations of prior constructions would not render machines of this type suitable for some purposes. The characteristics which are requisite for sorting machines such as speed, simplicity in construction and operation, facility in manufacture, and reduction in service requirements, are obtained in the present invention by the construction of a sorting machine which requires only two sorting pockets, in addition to the usual reject pocket. This desirable embodiment is the result of the utilization of a distinguishing principle of sorting operation, and which is believed to be novel herein, in which sorting operations are effected during each sorting run under control of a pair of selected designations.

In order that the present invention be more readily understood the general operation of the machine will now be described. During the first sorting run all of the records are passed through the machine, 'and in accordance with the adjustment of a digit designation selector, record cards having a pair of selected designations will be sorted out and the remaining record cards will be directed into the reject pocket. The digit designation selector is then adjusted to the next digit representing position and in the present machine this is performed by the passage of a control card at the termination of the first, and subsequent sorting runs. The cards which are directed into the sorting pockets may remain in these pockets if it is desired to sort records in' their digital sequence, or they may be removed from the sorting pockets. The cards which are directed into the reject pocket are again placed in the supply hopper and a re-sorting operation is then eflected which causes the sorting of the record cards bearing the next pair of selected designations and which are selected by the next position of the selector. Upon the completion of a plurality of sorting-runs one of the pockets contains records bearing some of the digit designations and the other: pocket receives the remaining records which bear the other digit designations.

It is, therefore, a principal object of the present invention to devise a sorting machine which is capable of effecting a sorting operation in accordance with a pair of selected designations during each sorting run and todirect these rec- I ordsjinto a plurality of sorting pockets. 7

It is a still further object or the present invention to provide a sorting machine of the type just described with a digit designation selector which selects these designations in such pairs as to effect a coordination between the sorting pockets and the designations .whereby the cards which are sorted are directed into the sorting pockets in the proper digital sequence. In order that it may be better understood how this desirable result is secured, the following explanation is given indicating the pairing and sequence 01' sorting the record cards according to their digital values. During the first sorting run the aforementioned digit designation selector selects the record cards which bear the digital. values-5 and 0. During the next sortingrrun, the record cards bearing the digital values 6 and 1 are selected, and in subsequent sorting runs the designations are selected so as to efl'ect the sorting of the records in the required digital sequence. In tabulated form the record cards will, after flve sort ing runs, be sorted into the two sorting pockets as indicatedbelowz' Lefthand pocket Righthand pocket tions 5 to 9 on top of the record groups bearing the designations 0 to 4, and this, of course, is effected by the removal of cards from the two sorting pockets.

It sometimes happens that a stack of record cards which is to be sorted does not contain all of the digital representations which form part of a complete series and, as previously described, the machine will, by means of theaforementioned digit designation selectonbe conditioned at the termination of each sorting run for effecting the sorting of records according to the next pair of digit representations; In the event that the selected pair of designations does not appear upon the records the machine will go through an idle sorting run which consume time,

2 which time-will be savedby the elimination of such idle sorting cycles. With the above disadvantage in view, it will be understood that it is a this is eifected by the incorporation of a digit setup mechanism which, during the flrst sorting run, will effect the set-up of the digit representations which actually appear ,upon the record cards. In the event that a pair of related designations does not appear upon the record cards, a

control mechanism will be automatically effective so as to bring the digit designation selector to the nextposition which corresponds to the pair of designations which actually appear upon the record cards. It' is preferable, however, to construct this mechanism in such a manner that in the event one of the designations of the selected pair is actually represented upon the record cards the sorting run will nevertheless be executed so as to eifect the sorting of such cards.- Another object of the present invention, and which is to be considered as a relatively important one, is the provision of means in the sorting machine for effecting the sorting of record cards according to the numerical designation 10, 11, and 12. In some forms of accounting practice these designations are used for the representations of months, and sorting operations aresometimes effected under control of these numerals. In the presentmachine provision is made .for effecting the sorting in accordthe designation selector hereinbefore referred to,

. is adapted to make the desired selection.

.still further object of the present inventionvto designatbns, it is preferable to-designate them by aspecial hole at another It is a still further object of the invention to sub-divide the sorting of record cards under control of the alphabetical designations into two ,phases and to provide selecting means whereby the operator may predetermine the group of alphabetical designations to be eflective during the phase of the sorting operations.

While any form of designation may'be utilized to represent the numerical and alphabetical by combinationally arranged perforations. The combinational a'rrangement is translated into a single reading whether it represents a digit or a digit or aletter. The record cards which aresorted during the first phase are distinguished from the digits which would be represented by the same combination of perforations by a hole in a' special index point pwition and, the same distinction is carried out for alphabetical designations which are sorted during the second phase, these alphabetical designations being indicated index point position. I

It is a still further object of the present invention in connection with sorting according to alphabetical designations to provide an alphabetical designation set-up means which provides for the omission of a sorting run when record same set-up means previously described in conance with this classification and it is desirable At this time a general description of the op- I eration of themachine when it is set to effect sorting according to alphabetical designations will now be described. During the first sorting rangement whereby sorting runs will be omitted when the numeral designations 10, 11, and 12 are not present on any-of the cards which are to be sorted. This designation selector constitutes, preferably, the same designation selector utilized for controlling the sorting of digits 0 to 9 and its mode of operation and result thereof is similar to that previously described.

I A still-further object of the present invention is to provide means which is capable of sorting record cards in the manner previously described according 'to alphabetical designations. The principle for sorting the perforated record cards according to alphabetical designations is the same as that provided for sorting out record cards according to numerical designations.

The sorting of the record cards according to tions and to provide for their successive selection,

phase a succession of sorting runs will be performed and these will direct records having alphabetical designations into the right and left following table:

Left-hand Right-hand pocket pocket During the second sorting phase the record cards'are sorted during a plurality of sorting runs and they are deposited into the two sorting pockets according to the following table:

left-hand Right-hand pocket pocket Z Y X W J V I U H T G S F If the operator is able to recognize that the capacity of the sorting pockets is such that they may accommodate all of the record cards sorted they may remain in the sorting pockets. At the termination 01' the last sorting run it should be noted that the right-hand pocket has contained' therein the record cards divided up into the alphabetically arranged groups A to J.. The lefthand sorting pocket has received record cards sorted according to the alphabetical designations K to Z. By placing the cards taken from the left-hand sorting pocket and superimposing them upon the record cards taken from the right-hand pocket, they will all be in the proper alphabetical sequence A to Z.

While the invention has been disclosed in one ,embodiment herein which utilizes cards representing characters by perforations it is to be understood thatthis specific disclosure is merely illustrative and should not be considered as restrictive. The designations may be effected in other ways, such as graphical characters or holes arranged in oth'er codes, and it is further immaterial if the analysis of the records is effected either electrically or mechanically. It is to be understood that while an electro-me chanical embodiment of the invention has been selected this is merely the preferred embodiment of the invention and it may vary in different forms without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Other objects of the invention will be pointed out in the following description and claims and Fig. 2 comprises a series of diagrams which indicate the preferred code for arranging the'holes in combination to represent all of the digits 0 to 9,

- the numerals 10, 11, and 12 and a complete series of alphabetical characters A to Z.

Fig. 3 is a front view of the improved sorting machine and shows particularly the two sorting pockets which are utilized to selectively receive the records sorted according to apairof designations and also a reject pocket into which is directed the unwanted record cards.

sorting machine The preferred form of record card which is to be sorted is shown in Fig. 1 wherein it will be noted that the card is provided with two superimposed card fields, each card field being provided with twenty-five vertical card columns for receiving holes representing a corresponding number of characters. It will be noted that the upper card field is appropriated for the designation of alphabetical designations, or letters, as well as for numerals and the lower card field is utilized for designating onlyvnumerals. The alphabetical characters or letters are represented by combinationally arranged holes located at six different index point positions. The numerals are designated by holes in combinational arrangement located at 1011'! indexpoint positions. It will be seen from Fig. 1 that the index point positions are designated by Roman numerals for convenience in reference and also for an understanding of the operation of the correspondingly designated parts of the machine.

Sorting control designations on cards A very desirable characteristic in the selection of the code is one which will facilitate the analysis and translation of the combinationally arranged holes.

In Fig. 2 there is shown the code of the hole arrangement for representing both the digits and letters and the combinational arrangement of theholes for each character is shown aside of each character that is designated. For the designation of the digits 0 to 9, it will be seen that 0 isdesignated by two spaced holes. The

digits 1 to 4 are represented by single holes located at different index point positions. Digits 5, 6,- and 7 are represented by adjacent pairs of holes and the digits 8 and 9. are each represented Fig. 4 is a view in side elevation of the back of the machine showing particularly the electromechanical translating unit and also the sorting designation selecting unit.

Fig. 5 is a plan view of the electro-mechanical translating unit but taken on an enlarged scale with respect to the similar showing in Fig. 4.

Fig. 6- is a plan view of the translating unitshown in Fig. 5.

Fig. 6a is a detail view.

Fig. 7 is a view in side elevation of one side of the electro-mechanical translating unit.

Fig. 8 is a diagrammatic view showing theformation of the notches in a seriesof translating bars and the relationship of contact operating bars which are adapted to engage with these notches.

Fig. 8a is a diagrammatic illustration showing the code of combinationally arranged holes representing the digits -0 to 9, numerals 10, 11, and

by two spaced holes. The numbers 10, 11, and 12 are each represented by different arrangements of three holes. Ordinarily sorting opera.- tions are effected under control of the digit designations. but in some instances it may be desirable to sort record cards in accordance with the numbers 10, 11, and 12. These may represent the months of the year to control the sorting of cards in accordance with such designations. Fig. 2 also outlines the manner in which the cards are paired in the sorting runs, itbeing noted that during the first sorting run record cards bearing the digits 0 and 5 are sorted. During thesecond sorting run record cards bearing the digits. 1 and 6 are sorted and then during the next three sorting runs record cards bear-v ing the following designations are sorted in pairs:

runs for sorting the record cards bearing the numbers 10, 11, and 12 are performed. In other words, for sorting according to the numerical designations the present machine requires only five sorting runs for sorting according to the digit designations 0 to '9. Three additional sorting Description of form of record cards sorted bathe Y ing runs may be appropriated for sorting these records. I

In the event that no cards are contained in the stack which is to be sorted bearing the designations 10, 11, and 12 the sorting character designation selector will be positioned so as to omit sorting runs tor all of these designations, or for any designation which is lacking. In the sorting of. the record cards according'to the digit designations the record cards bearing the digit representations to 4, inclusive, will be directed into the right-hand sorting pocket Fa shown in Fig. 3. The record cards bearing the digit representations to 9 will be directed into the lefthand sorting pocket Fb shown in Fig. 3. 1f the operator is able to discern the fact that all 0! the cards which are to be sorted may be received by the two sorting pockets, they may be left therein at the termination of the sorting runs. In this case at thetermination oi!' the last sorting run it is only necessary for the operator to first remove the stack of record cards sorted in the sequence 0 to 4 and place upon this stack the record cards which havebeen sorted in the digital sequence 5 to 9. This will produce- 'a single stack of record cards which are arranged- I in the proper digital sequence.

Ii it happens that the capacity of the card pockets is insuflicient to receive all the cards sorted therein, the operator will remove them from the sorting pockets and place them upon the table, or any suitable support, placing them in the same digital sequence they are sorted into the sorting pockets.

When the record cards are to be sorted according to the alphabetical designations, such as during the second phase. As shown in the sym-' bolic representation in Fig. 2 in the center thereof, the'record cards are sorted out in five sorting runs, paired as follows; 'F-S, G- I, H -U, IV, and J-.-W. v Thereafter, three successive sorting runs will be eiiective for sorting out the record cards according to the alphabetical designations X, Y, and Z. During the second phase of the sorting operation, the right-hand sorting pocket Fa will receive the record cards grouped ,in the alphabetical sequence F, G, H, I, J. When the cards which have been sorted in the righthand sorting pocket Fa during the first phase remain therein, it is obvious that at the termination of the second phase of the sorting runs the record cards in the right-hand sorting pocket will be in the alphabetical sequence; A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J. During the second phase of' the sorting operations, the left-hand sort-- ing pocket Fb will receive the record cards sorted according to the alphabetical sequence S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, Z. If the operator has not removed the record cards sorted in the left-hand sorting pocket Fb during the first phase, this pocket will now contain record cards sorted according to the alphabetical sequence K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S,

the letters A to Z, sorting operations are effected in two phases, each phase consisting of a plurality of sorting runs. For conditioning the machine for sorting operations which are to be effected according to the first phase, the analyzing brush which effects the analysis ofthe holes at the IV index point position is made effective so that allrecord cards having holes at this index point position, as well as othenindex point positions in combinaticnal arrangement therewith will be sorted out. This will efiect, as shown at the bottom of Fig. 2, the sorting of record cards bearing the alphabetical designations A to E and K to R. 'As outlined at the bottom of Fig. 2, during the first five sorting runs effected during the first phase, record cards -will be sorted out according to the following pairs; A-K, B-L, C-M, D-N, and E--O.

After these five sorting runs which sort record cards according to predetermined pairs there will be three successive sorting runs for sorting out the record cards bearing the alphabetical designations P, Q, and R. In other words, during the first sorting phase the record cards will be sorted according to the alphabetical letters'Ato R, inclusive. During this phase of sorting operations the right-hand sorting pocket Fa will have directed therein record cards bearing the alpha-- betical designationsA to E'and the left-hand sorting pocket Fb will receive record cards bearing the alphabetical designations K to R, in-v clusive.

- The machine is then conditioned for sorting according to the second phase and this is effected by causing theanalyzing brush which ef- To place the record cards so that they are arranged in alphabetical sequence A to Z the operator merely removes the record cards from the right-hand sorting pocket, places them on a suitable support and superimposes the recordcards taken out of the left-hand sorting pocket. General operation of the g amme The construction and operatiort of the imchine will be given in specific detafl as the specibe either a numeral or a letter. The record cards either one of a pair of selected designations, or

fects the analysis of the holes at the VI position effective and record cards having this designation and other designations in combinaticnal hole arrangement therewith will be sorted out are sorted during a plurality of sorting runs and during each sorting run, record cards having cards having a'single selected designation, are sorted out and in either sorting operation the remaining cards are directed into a reject pocket. By means of a sorting character designation selector, the sorting mechanism is made responsive to the designations successively during a plurality of successive sorting runs.

During the passage of all the records during the first sorting run the sorting designations setup devices are operated by means of which representations of all oithe diiierent designations on the records are set up, whether the designations represent numerals or letters. The set-up devices preferably comprise electrical contacts and for those recordsin which a designation ap- .thecardstobesortemasortiiig sorting pockets hereinbefore referred to.

selector during the successive sorting runs;

When the contacts are pen to designate either a pair of designations o a single designation on run will be effective under control of these designations to 'sort a pair of cards, or a single card. The sorting of a pair of cards during the sorting run is effected by the selective displacement of a pair of sorting blades to direct thecards into the two When the machine is conditioned to effect the sorting of cards singly during the sorting cycles these cards are directed into one of the sorting pockets. In either form of sorting operation cards not bearing the selected designation are directed into the reject pocket in order to be utilized for subsequent sorting runs, the sorting of these cards then being effected in accordance with the next selected designation.

When some of the contacts remain in their normally closed position due to the absence of cards bearing corresponding designations, these contacts control the position of the designation selector to cause the latter to be shifted from onecharacter designation position to another character designating position, omitting charac- Card feeding, analyzing, and sorting mechanisms Referring to Fig. 3, it will be seen that the card feed driving shaft I9 is driven by the driving motor 10 through a worm gear drive so that the shaft l9 rotates one revolution for each card feeding or sorting cycle. The means for feeding the record cards singly out of the supply hopper It consists of a card picker II which is reciprocated by the drive shaft l9 through a crank arm connection. This form of card feeding mechanism is well known in the art and feeds the record cards to be sorted singly from the bottom of the stack so that such cards are fed tothe feeding rollers Hi. In the present machine four sets of feeding rollers l3 are provided and these are driven by the motor In through the shaft IS.

The combinational hole designations of the selected card field are analyzed by four analyzing brushes M. In the present machine although alphabetical characters are represented by combinations of six holes only four analyzing brushes are provided and the manner in which some of these brushes may effect the analysis of the two extra holes at the V and VI index point positions will be described later. The analyzing brushes H are mounted upon a carrier and the latter may be adjusted step by step by means of a crank handle I! in a well known manner to cause the I spending designations which are on the cards .hole designations are translated into a single character representation, and by means of the sorting character designation selector either a single selected designation or a pair of selected designations may be effective during a sorting run to direct cards having corresponding designations into sorting pockets designated Fa and Fb in Fig. 3. Upon the analysis of a record card bearing a selected designation a corresponding sorting control magnet lGa or lib (Fig. 4) will be energized. Upon the energization of one of these magnets the related armature will be atthe sorting blades are normally out of the path brushes ll to be correlated with a selected card column, and successively with the other card columns.

The analyzing brushes may be selectively rendered effective when a selected card field is corof the record cards which are fed by the rollers l3. When one of the sorting blades l5a or lfib is rocked counterclockwise it will be in the path of the leading edge of a card which is fed by the feeding rollers l3 causing the card to be deflected downwardly so that it will'be disposed in one of the sorting pockets to drop upon the movable card bottom l8 of the pocket. 0bviously, by the selective movement of the sorting blades [5a and l5b the cards will be directed into the respective sorting pockets Pb and Fa. When a record card which does not bear either selected designation passes through the analyzing devices the sorting control magnets Ilia and Hib in Fig. 4 will remain deenergized and due to the normal positions of the sorting blades [5a and l5b the card will be unobstructedly fed by the feeding rollers I3 to bedirected into the reject pocket R. 1

Translator and sorting designation selector set-up devices The construction of the combinational hole translator and sorting designation selector set-up devices will now be explained with particular reference to Figs. 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 80.. These two mechanisms are assembled in a self-contained unit which is mounted at the rear of the machine as shown in Fig. 4. The translator comprises in part; four slidably mounted bars 33 which are notched as shown in Fig. 8; a series of fourteen contact operating bars 40 operatively correlated with the bars 33, and two series of contacts 50 and 60, one pair of'which is shown in Fig. 6, the contacts 50 being provided to control the energization of ,the sorting control magnets 16a and lib, and the contacts 60 comprise the contacts of the sorting designation selector set-up device. The unit now being described also includes a restoring magnet 91 (Fig. 6) which is adapted to effect the restoration of the contacts 60 which have been opened. Th translator is controlled by the analyzing brushes and the control includes a series of magnets designated in Fig. 7 as 30-I, 30-11, 30III, and 30-30IV. As best shown in Fig. 8, four bars 33 are provided and these are adjacently mounted as shown in Figs. 4 and 5. The bars 33 are individually moved to an adjusted position and to enable this movement the bars 33 are slidably mounted in brackets and each of the bars 33 is normally urged upwardly by the action of a. normally compressed spring' 35, best shown in Figs. 5 and '7. Each bar 33 has coordinated therewith its respective controlling magnet 30, and, as best shown in Fig. 6, the armature 3! of each controlling magnet 36 has an extension 32 which is adapted to normally engage a notch 34 (Fig. 8) of the respective controlling -bar 33.

Obviously, by the energization of a magnet 30 the armature 3| will b attracted thereby withdrawing the extension 32 from the cooperating notch 34, unlatching the respective bar 33 so that it may vbe moved upwardly by its related spring 35. From Fig. 7, 'it will be seen that magnets are designated by the Roman numerals I, II, III, and IV which correspond to the similar designations of the combinationalholes in a card column of the card shown in Fig. 1. Upon the presence of a hole in a card column each of the magnets 30,

-' mounted below the bars 33 at'right angles thereto and are adapted to cooperate with notches 45 (Fig. informed-in the lower edges of the bars 33. Each contact operating bar 40, as best shown in Fig. 6, is provided with a block 4| of insulating material and the latter is interposed between the lengthened contact carrying blades of the re lated bars of contacts 50, 60. Each bar 40, as best shown in Figs. 6 and 6a, is provided with a projection 42 adapted to cooperate with the cam 23 mounted on a drive shaft 21. The bars 33 are first adjusted and thereafter the cam 29 will be rotated sufiiciently so that the contact operating bars 40 will be moved upwardly by the resiliency of the lower blade of contacts 50 there- 'by'closing related contacts 50 and opening contacts 60. The formation and arrangement of the notches formed at the underside of each of the bars 33 is so designed and arranged that for each I combinational setting of the bars 33 there willbe' only one contact operating bar 40 which is in alignment with the notches of all the bars 33, so

. that only one bar Ml will be elevated during each record analyzing operation thereby converting the combinational hole designations to a single digit representation and which is reflected by the positioning of a single digit representing contact operating bar 40. Thirteenof the contact op.- erating bars 40'are adapted to close respective contacts 50 and which, in Fig. 9, have corresponding digital representations. '7

Reference has been made to a special contact operating bar designated 40Sk in Fig. 8 and this bar is moved to contact closing position when a special control card having perforations at the I, III, and IV index point positions are analyzed, (see symbol at the upper left of Fig. 2). will enable the setting of the bars 331, 33I1I, and 33IV, thereby aligning notches in all of the bars 33 with the contact operating bar 40-310. This contact operatingbar is adapted to close the set of contacts designated ill-Sic in Fig. 9. From what has just been described, it is obvious that since the designation Sic in Fig. 2 is represented by a combinational arrangement of holes which does not represent any of the numerals or letters, it is only by the passage of the special control card bearing the Sic designation that contacts ill-Sic will be closed. This control card comprises the last card passed through the machine in each sorting run, and initiates a number of functions which will be subsequently described in detail. From what has just been described, it is obvious that the translator mechanism is adapted to convert combinational hole designations into a single digit representation. This electro-mechanical form of translating mechanism is well known in the art and further description of its construction and operation, therefore, need not be given.

Attention is directed to the fact that the sortingdesignation selector contacts 60 are set up under direct control of the translator and, as shown in Fig. :9," eleven sets of contacts 60 are provided for the representation of the numerals 1 to 4, 6 to 9, 10, 11, and 12. No contact 60 is provided for representing either the 0 digit or the 5 digit as it is desirable that during the first sorting run all of the 0 and 5 designated cards be sorted out. I

In the present machine the sorting designation -selector contacts 60 are set up during the first sorting run to represent by the opening of certain of the contacts 60 those designations which actually appear upon the record cards sorted during the first sorting run. This set-up should be maintained during-successive sorting runs efiected under control of one card column and in the present arrangement when the upper blade of a pair of contacts 60 is elevated this blade will be latched by means of a related latching lever 6| (Fig. 6), which is urged by a spring 62 so that its .shoulder will catch beneath the extended blade of respective contacts 60 and retain contacts 60 open. The related contacts 50 will, however, not remain closed so that they will be subsequently free to be restored to their normal open position when the respective operating bar 40 is returned to normal. The magnet 91 (Fig. 6) is adapted to effect the subsequent unlatching of those contacts 60 which have been latched open. A restoring yoke 64 (Fig.6) which is pivoted at 63 is interconnected with the armature of the magnet 91 by a link 6B. The restoring 'yoke 64 extends across all ofthe latching levers 6| so that when the magnet 9'! is energized it will attract its armature moving link 85 to the left and rocking the restoring arm 64 clockwise about its pivot 63. to cause the unlatching of those contacts 60 which have been m'aintained in open position.

The restoring yoke 64 is provided. with a side lip 61 which is located adjacent the button of the upper contact blade (Fig- 6) of contacts 13 to open contacts 13 by the operation of yoke 64. As will be subsequently described in detail, contacts 13 are adapted by their opening to effect the deenergization of a relay 'H (Fig. 9) to cause the termination of the operation of the driving motor l0 and this, it will be seen, is performed when a plurality of sorting runs have been carried out for all of the designations of a selected card column.

There will now be described the driving parts of the translator and the sorting designation se-v I lector for causing the operation of certain of their parts and timing the operations so that they occur in a predetermined sequence.

Previous reference has been made to the main driving shaft l9 (Fig. 1) which, it will be recalled, is driven'a complete revolutionfor each machine cycle and by referring to Fig. 4, it will ate thefeed roller driving shafts of the machine.

Intergeared with a gear secured to one of the feed roller driving shafts is a gear 2| and the This will shift the levers 6| is adapted through interconnecting bevel gears 22 and 23 to-drive a shaft 24. At the other end of the shaft 24 there is secured a bevel gear 25 (Fig. which meshes with the bevel gear 26 which is secured to the shaft 21 and, as previously described, the shaft 21 carries the cam 29 which cooperates with a series of contact operating bars 40. After the bars 33 have been unlatched and moved to adjusted positions in a predetermined combinational setting corresponding to the combinational holes analyzed; the cam 29 will be sufliciently rotated towithdraw the high part of the cam 29 (see I'igpfia) from the projections 42 thereby releasing the contact operating bars 40 and one of these may now move upwardly permitted by the low part of the cam 29.

At this time the card is being moved by-thefeeding rollers and at. the time one of the contact operating bars is moved to contact operat ing-position the leading edge of the card is adjacent the sorting control blade [5a. The arrangement is such that the contact operating bar 40 which is moved into contact operating position will retain the closure of the selected contacts 50 -a suflicient length of time to cause the selected sorting control magnet l6a or l6b to be energized to shift the respectivesorting blade l5a or [52) so that upon thecorrelation of a card with the sorting blade which is operated the selecting sorting blade will deflect the card into the desired sorting pock'et. If the contacts 50 which are closed correspond to the selected designation which isefiective during the sorting run, or which is one of the designations of the selected pair which are eflective during the sortfor each card cycle and its rotation is, of course,

timed with card'fee'd so that the operation just described may be performed.

After the card has been passed into the selected sorting pocket, or has been directed to the reject pocket R, if it does not bear a designation corresponding to the designations eflective during a related sorting run, the bar 40 which is operated will be restored to its normal position by means of the high part of the cam 29 thereby disengaging the right end of the bar 40 fromthe notches. in the bars 33 which, in the meantime, remain in their adjusted positions. The restoration of the contact operating bar 40 which. has been operated is timed so that the restoration will be effected after the leading edge of a card which is not to be directed into one of the sorting pockets has passed'the sorting blade 15b. Obviously, with the sorting blade IS!) in the normal position shown in Fig. 3, the record card will be fed unobstructedly to the reject pocket R. r

Directly afterthe above described operation, the adjusted bars 33 are restored to their normal positions by means of a cam 36 shown in Figs. 4; 5 and 6 and which is secured to the shaft 24. The gear ratio of the bevl gears 22 and 23 is so chosen that cam 36 is adapted to be rotated a single revolution for each operating cycle of the machine and, therefore, rotates synchronously with card feeding operations and the restoration of the cam 29. When the operated bar 40 has been restored to normal a high part of the cam 36 (see Fig.- 7) will engage the upper ends of the adjusted bars 33 moving them downwardly so that when they are in their normal positions the notches 34 will be re-engaged by the extensions 32 of the armatures 3! of the corresponding magnets 30.

Recapitulating, during the first-sorting run one or more contacts 60 will be opened and such contacts correspond in character designations with the designations of all the records which pass through the machine during the first sorting run. During each of the successive card sorting cycles of a sorting run, involving either a selected designation or a pair of designations, the related contacts 50 will be closed and if the particular contact 50 or contacts 59 which are closed correspond to the selected designation, or the selected pair of designations which are to be effective during that sorting run, the related sorting magnet lGa or lib will be energized and the record will be directed into the respective sorting pocket Errand Fb. Upon the passage of a card which does not bear the selected designation its contact 50 will be closed but due to the fact that it does not correspond to the selected character designation neither. of the sorting magnets lie or lfibgwill be energized and this card will be directed into the reject pocket R.

The omission of sorting runs is effected by causing the sorting mechanism to be unresponsive to designations on cards which pass through the analyzing devices and the means for causing the sorting mechanism to be responsive to either a selected designation ora selected pair of designa tions is under control of the sorting character mediate character designating position not represented by. the cards. When sorting operations are to be effectedfor a pair of selected designations and one of these designations appears upon the cards passed through the machine during the first sorting run the designation selector will occupy a character representing position corresponding to the designation appearing upon the card. During this sorting run record cards having one of these designations will control sorting operations and the record cards will be selectively directed into the sorting pockets Fa or Fb.

. For each card sorting-cycle the controlling bars 33 will be set up in a combinational setting and this will be translated into a single reading reilected by the positioning of one of the contact operating bars 40. This bar will close its corresponding contacts 50 to cause the energization of either the sorting magnet Ilia or ISb in dependence upon whether it corresponds to the selectedv designation or selected pairs of designations. After the card has been directed into the appropriate sorting pocket the contact operating bar 4|! which has been positioned will be restored to its normal position free of all the bars 33,- and thereafter, those bars 33 which have been moved to adjusted position will be retracted by the cam 36 to be subsequently re-latched by the armatures V sorting run. I I

now in normal position so that it is in condition to receive and representthe combinational representation under control of the holes of the card next passed through the analyzing devices and the operation just described will be repeatedfor each card passed throiigh the machine for a At the termination of a sorting run, cards bearing the selected designation or selected pair of designations, will be found in the sorting pockets Fa and Fb and the unwanted cards not hearing the effective designations will be found in the reject pocket R. The record cards directed into the sorting pockets Fa and Fb may be taken out of these pockets or they may be left therein so that cards bearing the next selected designation will overlie the record cards retained therein. The record cards directed into the reject pocket during each sorting run are taken out of this pocket and replaced in the supply hopper l2 to be re-sorted undercontrol of the next selected designation, or the selected pair of designations, to cause cards bearing these designations to be selectively disposed into the sorting pockets Fa, Fb.

Sorting designation selecting unit I The mechanism previously referred to which is provided for causing the sorting mechanism to be designations 5 and 0 are passed through the maresponsive to the character designations'either singly or in pairs, successively during successive sorting runs and for preventing the sorting mechanism from being responsive to certain character designations which do not appear in the records passed through the machine, is diagrammatically shown in Fig. 4 and is constructed as a separate unit which is attached to the rear side of the machine.

'In general this unit consists of three commutators which are diagrammatically shown in Fig. 9. The commutators 85a and 85b in Fig. 9 comprise the selecting mechanism for causing the sorting mechanism to be responsive to the designations either singly or in pairs, successively during successive sorting runs. A commutator 84 in Fig. 9 causes the sorting machine to omit sorting runs for character designations which do not appear upon the records first passed throughv the machine. As best shown in Fig. 9, thev contact operating arms 81 and 92a and 92b of the respective commutators are interconnected by a shaft 83 to cause them to have corresponding character representing positions as is best shown in Fig. 4. The shaft '83 has secured'thereto at its upper end an indicator disc I9 which carries a, series of figures shown in Fig. 9 corresponding to the difierent digital positions of the contact arms of the three commutators. These figures are arranged in pairs and also singly, as outlined in Fig. 9, so that through a window of a cover for the disc 19 these figures are visible to the operator in order that he may know the different digit representing positions of the commutators;

or the character representations which are to be utilized for effecting sorting operations during the successive sorting runs.

The means for effecting a step by step positioning of the switch arms of the different commutav 2,265,442 of the associated magnets 30. The translator is By the digit representing positions of the contact arms-92a and 92b of the respective commu- I tators 85a and 85b the sorting magnets I61: and [6b will be responsive to selected designations which appear on some of the records passed through the machine during a sorting run. To make this clearer, it should beunderstood that in the normal position of the switch arms 92a and 92b the machine is conditioned for effecting the sorting of record cards when cards having the chine during the first sorting run. Upon the presence of a card having the 5 digit designation, the related contacts 50 will be closed thereby rendering the commutator 851) effective to cause the sorting of the record'cards bythe energization of the sorting magnet 16b which is controlled by the commutator 8512. In a similar manner, the commutator 85a. effects the energization of the sorting control magnet l6a during the first sorting run to sort 0 designated cards. Hence,

during the first sorting run record cards are sive positioning of only the switch arm 9212 will cause sorting operations to be effected for record cards having the designations 10, 11, and 12 efiected during the three final sorting runs.

The contact arm 81 of the commutator 84 has corresponding digit representing positions and the commutator contact elements contacted by contact arm 81 are wired to respective contacts 60 Q in such a manner that a related pair of selected tors is shown in Fig. 9 wherein it will be seen that the magnet is adapted through its armature 8i and a cooperating ratchet wheel 82 connected to the shaft 83 to step the contact arms of the commutators successively by successive electrical impulses transmitted to the magnet 80.

contacts 60 must be simultaneously closed to cause the omission of a sorting run. Tomake this clearer, during the firstsorting run record cards having the designations 0 and 5 are sorted I out and it is for this reason correspondingly designated contacts 60 are not provided. In the next position of the switch arm 81, which is the position it occupies prior to the initiation of the second sorting run, it will be seen that the next commutator. contact element in contact with switch arm 81 is in series with the two pairs of contacts 60 designated by the digits 6 and 1. In the event that both of these contacts are closed this is an indication that record cards havingthe designations 1 and 6 have not passed through the machine during the first sorting run and, therefore, a sorting run will not be performed for cards having these designations. In the event that only one designation appears, one of these contacts will have been left open thus causing sorting tp be effected for cards having a corresponding designationh When record cards are passed through the machine during the first sorting run which do not bear the designations 1 and 6 the correspond ingly designated contacts 60 will remain closed. This will enable an impulse to be transmitted to the magnet 80 and the commutators will be positioned so as to omit sorting for the designations 1 and Sand directly condition the machine for the next sorting operation for sorting out cards bearing the designations 2 and 7, if either is designated on the cards.

Operation of machine in connection with wiring diagram After or before a stack of record cards to be sorted by the machine has been placed in the supply hopper I2 (Fig. 3), there will be certain preliminary adiustments of the machine to select the card field which is to control sorting operations and also to select the particular card column oi the selected card field. In addition to betical designations F-Z. The machine is provided with a selector to determine this. ,The selection of a card column is effected by the rotation or the crank handle II shown in Fig. 3 which positions the brushes I4 laterally in a well known manner to correlate the analyzing brushes with a selected card column of the selecteii'card field. The selection or a card field is eflected by the appropriate adjustment of the switch I04, (Fig. 9)

which selects a card field in a manner to be presently described. 4

The initiation of the operation of the machine is effected after the desired preliminary adjustments have been made, by the depression of a start key which closes a circuit from the positive line side I00, through contact 10 closed by the start key, to a motor control relay magnet II, a wire I2, contacts I3, wire 14, to the negative line position of the switch I04, and the selection the card field is enected by transmitting current to the magnets by either oi two dmerently timed circuits depending upon which card neld is to control sorting operations. When the switch I04 is in the position shown in Fig. 9, current will be transmitted to the magnets 30 from the positive line side I00, through the switch I04, through cam controlled contacts I02, to a wire which leadsto one side 01 all of the magnets 30. The contacts I02 are timed to close at the time the holes of the upper card field are correlated with the analyzing brushes I4. It is to be noted that-from the other side of the magnets 30 there are individual wire connections I05 to the respective analyzing brushes I4 and the circuit is closed by means of the brushes I4' through the holes in the card, the circuit being continued by a wire connection to the negative line side I I0, and which wire is connected to the bed plate over which the record card is fed. I

When the lower card field is to be selected for controlling sorting operations, the switch I04 is moved to the dotted line position shown in Fig.

'9, the circuit then leading from the positive line side I00, through cam controlled contacts I03 and which continue. the circuit by a wire I06 to the common line side of the magnets 30. Contacts I03 are timed to be closed by a cam at a time when the perforations of the lower card field are correlated with the analyzing side H0, causing the energization of the motor control relay magnet II and the closure of its relay contacts 10 and 11. Contacts 16 are holding contacts for the relay magnet II and provide a holding circuit for the magnet through the relay contact 1G and the stop key contacts "which are connected to the positive line side I00. The closure of contacts 11 closes a circuit for the motor I0 leading from the positive line side I00, wire I0, relay contacts 11, motor I0, to the negative line side H0. The motor will thereby be set into operation and will be in continuous operation until the holding circuit is opened by the opening of the stop key contacts 15 or the contacts 13. The contacts have been previously referred to particularly with reference to Fig. 6 and itwill be recalled that these contacts are opened after a series of record cards has been sorted in accordance with all the designations appearing in one card column. In other words, after the last sorting run for the designations in a single card column contacts- I3 are open in the manner and by stop the operation of the motor I0.

After the machine is to be operated in such a manner that the commutators 85a, 05b and 84 will occupy successive character designating positions effected by the passage of a control card at the termination of each sorting run, a switch 5| shown at the upper left of Fig. 9 is placed in the full line positionshown. At the beginning of the first sorting run, or the normal condition oi the machine, the commutators just brushes I4. By the above described circuits the magnets 30 are selectively energized in dependence upon the combinational location of the holes in the selected card field.

, It'will be recalled that sorting according to alphabetical character is eifeeted in two dif- Ierent phases and during the first phase the records which are to be sorted all have a perforation located at the V index point position.

During the second phase the record cards which the means previously described to automatically are to be sorted according to their alphabetical designations each have a perforation located at the VI index point position. Depending upon the presence of holesat either the V or VI index point positions, the relay magnets 2M and 202 are selectively energized and their selective energization is dependent upon the presence of perforations at the last mentioned index point positions. When the machine is conditioned for eifecting sorting in accordance with the alphabetical designations, the record card is fed in the direction shown by the arrow in Fig. 1 and, at the time the perforations at the I, II, III, and IV index point positions are correlated with the analyzing brushes, contacts I02 will close to client the selective energization of the magnets 30, in the manner just described. After this analysis cam controlled contacts I02 open and at the time the index point positions V and 1 VI are correlated with the two left-hand analyzing brushes I4, Fig. 9, contacts 203 will close.

The circuit for causing the selective energization of the relay magnets 20I, 202 is from the positive line side I00, through the switch I04, through cam controlled contacts 203, to the common line side connection for the relay magnets 20I and 202. From Fig-9, itwill be seen that from magnets MI, 202 there are individual wire connections-to the respective analyzing brushes I4 which are at theextreme. left in Fig. 9, so that depending upon the perforation located at the V or VI index point positions, the relay magnets 20! and 202-will be selectively energized.

to numeral designations.

As previously indicated, there is a preliminary adjustment of the machine for controlling the sorting mechanism so that it will sort the record cards according to numerals or alphabetical designations. This selection is controlled by the position of a switch 2) (Fig. 9) which is adapted to have three different positions of adjustment. When the switch 2l0 is in the full line position shown in Fig. 9, the machine is conditioned for eifecting the sorting of record cards according When the switch 2H) is in the intermediate positiomthe sorting of record cards will be effected according to the alphabetical designations A-R. When switch 2) is positioned to the extreme right, sorting ofthe'record cards will be e'fiected according to the alphabetical designations 5-2.

There will now be described the circuits which are efiective for controlling sorting of the. record cards by the numeral designations thereon,

sorting control magnet lit, the latter having a wire connection to the negative line side I Ill,

.When sorting operationsare. eflected undercontrol of the magnet Ito, the energization oi'this magnet may be held by the contacts 50 for a suflicient length of time so that the sorting blade lia will be in card deflecting position at the time the leading edge of the card to besorted will be obstructed by the sorting blade 80 as to be directed into the sorting pocket Fa. When sorting operations are to be eifected for cards directed into the sorting pocket Fb, the extent of record card feed is substantially increased, and

and it is to be understood that the same circuits are involved whether the sorting operations are to be effected under control of the upper cardfield or the lower card field, this being determined, it will be recalled, by the position of the resents 0, and the correspondingly designated contacts 50 are closed, it will be seen that a circuit will be closed from the positive line side it, through the switch 2"), wire 2, to the 0 contacts 50, the circuit then leading to the contact element of commutator 85a designated 0.

, The switch arm 92a of the commutator is in contact with this element, thereby extending the circuit to a commutator ring 93a in continuous contact with the switch arm'92a. The circuit then extends from the commutator ring through switch 260;: and wire 94a to the sorting that the card passing through the machine repit is preferable to provide a holding circuit for the sorting control magnet l6b to enable the latter to be held energized until the card to be sorted is obstructed by the sorting blade lib and thereby directed into the sorting pocket Fb. In

the present arrangement this holding circuit leads from the positive line side I00, through cam controlled contacts 226, a pair of contacts which are bridged by the, armature of magnet Nib, the circuit thenextending to one side of the sorting control magnet ltb, 'thencefrom the other side of this magnet to the negative line side I III. This will retain the energization of the sorting control magnet 16b a suiiicient length of 'time to insure proper sorting operations.

The circuits just describedhave been described in connection with the sorting of record cards bearing the designations 0 and- 5 and which is effected during the first sorting run: It is pointed out that sorting operations for sorting subsequent record cards according to other designations are effected in substantially the same manner and by means of the same circuit connections. The closure of the circuits of the sorting magnets Ito and lGb is eflected'under control of: the contacts and, if the closure of these contacts corresponds in designations "to the designations which are effective during that sorting. run, sorting of correspondingly designated record cards will As previously pointed out, during successive sorting runs the record cards will be sorted out in pairs accordingto the following paired numeral designations: 6-1, 7-2, 8-3, 9-4, and thereafter the three successive sorting runs efiected for the numerals 10, 1'1, and 12.

control magnet Ilia, the other side of this magnet being connected to the negative line side H0. The closure of this circuit'will effect the energization of the sorting magnet I60, and the 1atter will position its related sorting blade |5a to deflect the 0 designated card into the sorting pocket Fa. I

Assume, forexample, that the next record card passing through the machine in the same sort- 1 ing run bears the designation 5, the combinational hole arrangement designating. this digit will be translated into a single digit representation reflected by the closureof' the correspondingly designated contacts 50 The sorting control circuit in this instance leads from the positive line side I00, through the switch 2| 0, the wire 2, the 5 designated contacts 50, thence by a related wire 9": to the 5 contact element of -,the commutator 85b. This contact element is in electrical contact with the switch arm 92b of contact with commutator ring 93b so that the circuit will be extended fromthis commutator ring through the switch 260b, wire 94b,'to the For sorting of record cards according to the alphabetical designations A-R, the switch 2| II is placed in its intermediate position. Upon the passage of any of the record cards bearing a perforation at the V index point position, the

relay magnet 2M will be energized, thereby causing the closure of its related contacts 22l, thus establishing the closure of the circuit leading from the positive line side I00, through the relay contacts 22l, to the switch 2) now in the intermediate dotted line position, wire 2| l, and thence to the common line connection for all of the contacts 50. Therefore, sorting of the record e cards during the first sorting run will be efiected ,the commutator and the latter is in continuous whenever a record card has a perforation at a the V index point position and, if a record card has the designation which is to be effective during that sorting run, it will be directed into either the sorting pocket Fa or Fb. Whether or not sorting will be efiected for certain cards which have the perforation at the V index point posi-' tion will be determined by the position of the switch arms of the commutators a and 85b, in

the same manner as has been previously described in connection with sorting operations for numerals. While during the first sorting run' sorting operations are eflected" for the numerals and 5, when the machine is conditioned for sorting according to alphabetical designations,

cards bearing the alphabetical designations A, and K will be sorted out. The reason that similar sorting operations are eqlected under control of the commutators for numerals and the alphabet element.

then condition the machine for causing sorting operations according to the digit representations is due to the fact that, with the exception of the extra designation at the V index point position,

the combinational arrangement of perforations is the same for representing numerals and alphabetical designations. For example, 0 is represented by holes at the I and IV index point positions and A is represented by holes similarly arranged. The same hole arrangementis eflected for, designating the numeral and the letter k. Sincethe translation of the combinational arrangement of perforations is the same whether they represent letters or numerals, obviously the machine will effect, similar sorting operations under control or the commutators 85a and 85b during the successive sorting runs.

For sorting record cards bearing the alphabetical designations which are eflective during the second phase, the switch 2|8 is positioned at the extreme right as shown by dotted lines. In this case only record cards havingv perforations at the VI index point position will cause the energization of the relay magnet 282 and the closure of its related contacts 222, thereby extending the circuit from the positive line side I88, through the relay contacts 222, the switch 2l0 at its extreme right hand position, wire 2, which is the common wire connection for the contacts 50. Thus, record cards having alphabetical designations and having'the extra designations at the VI index point position will be sortedout and the sorting operations will be in accordance with the designations which are to be effective during the successive sorting runs.

During the first sorting run all of the cards placed in the supply hopper will pass through the machine and certain of the contacts 80 will be operated to cause the digital representations of the stack of cards to. be setup. Assuming, for example, that the characters 1, 2, and 7 are not represented upon any of the cards passed through v the machine and, accordingly, the contacts 58 bearing the digit designations 1, 2. and '7 in Fig. 9

will remain closed which, of course, is their normal condition. These contacts will remain closed during successive sorting runs. For the digit 1 and 6.. It has been assumed that the cards which have'first passed through the machine included. some which represented the digit 6 but no cards were present which includedthe character representation 1 so that the correspondingly representations which are on the cards passed through the first sorting run the correspondingly designated contacts 68 will be opened as previously described.

The machine first sorts cards bearing the digit representations 05 in the first sorting run, the

commutators being in the normal position shown in the closure of the contacts 58Sk in Fig. 9,

causing the closure of a circuit leading from a positive line side I88, wire 2, contacts .58 Sk, wire 54, wire 53, magnet 80, which is connected to the negative line side 8. This will cause the energization of the magnet 80 and the attraction of its armature 8| and when the circuit to the magnet 88 is broken, a spring (not designated in designated contacts 60 will remain closed. This will, nevertheless, require that the machine go through the second sorting operation, sorting out only the record cards which bear the designation 6 and at the termination of the second sorting run the control card passes through the machine efiecting in the manner previously described the energization of the magnet causing the commutatorsto he stepped to the next character representing position.

In the third position of the commutators the machine will be conditioned for sorting out record cards bearing the digit representations 2 and 7 and it has been assumed that cards bearing these designations are not present in the stack which is to be sorted. When the commutators are in the position for eflecting the sorting of the digit representations 2 and 7 a circuit will be closed which leads from the positive line side I08, switch'5|, wire 98, to the contacts 60 designated by the digit 2, the contacts 6|] designated by the digit 1, the contact element of the com mutator 84, the switch arm .81, the collector ring 88, intermittently closed contacts 90, wire 53,-

to the magnet 88 and thence to the negative line side H0. The cam which intermittently closes contact 90 may be rotated by any suitable driving shaft of the machine and upon the closure and.

opening of the contacts 90 it is evident that the magnet 88 will be energized and deenergized to cause the shaft 83 to be turned one step thereby bringing the contact arms 81, 92a and 92b to the 3 and 8 digit representing positions. It is apparent, therefore, that a sorting run for sorting out record cards bearing the 2 and 7 digit representation will be omitted and the machine will be directly conditioned for sorting out cards bearing the digit representations 3 and 8.

In this manner two successive sorting runs will take place for cards according to the sorting paired digits 3-8, 49. Thereafter, three successive sorting runs will ensue for sorting out record cards bearing the numeral representations 10,11, and 12. At the end of the sorting run for sorting out record cards bearing the numeral designation |2 the magnet 80 will be energized due to the passage of the control card thereby moving the switch arms of the commutators another step in a. clockwise direction, as shown in Fig. 9, and closing circuits now to be traced.

Whenthe contact arm 92b engages the contact element to which the wire is connected, a circuit will be closed leading from the positive line side I80 through the switch 5|, the wire 98, the restoring magnet 91, the wire 96 to a contact elementof the commutator 85b which is insulated from the collector ring 93b and which is now in contact with the switch arm 92b. The circuit then leads from the switch arm 92b to an insulated contact element to which the wire 95 is connected and since the wire 95 is connected to-the negative line side I I 0 the closure of the circuit will result in the energization of the magnet 81.

This setting of the commutators will,

The closure oi the last described circuit will cause, as previously described, the restoration of those contacts 60 which have been latched in open position. It will be remembered that the energization of the-magnet 91 will result in the opening of the contacts 13 and this will cause the opening of the circuit of the motor l and the latter groups of records partments, analyzing means for analyzing said designations, selecting devices -ior eiiecting'the selection of designations in pairsto cause theoperation of saidsorting mechanism upon analysis of either one of a selected pair of designations, and automatically operated means for automatically causing said devices to select chine operations are performed in the manner previously described. It record cards are-absent which do not bear certain alphabetical designations in selected pairs there will be an omission 'of sorting runs for such omitted pairs of alphabeticaldesignations. The manner inwhich this is performed is precisely the same as has been described in connection with the sorting of numerically designated cards.

,It is'sometimes desirable to accomplish the sorting of therecord cards according to selected" designations and without utilizing the automatic digit designation selector which is positioned under control of the control cards. At other times it may be desirable to condition the machine so that the first digit which is selected to control sorting operations may be selected directly and without utilizing the control card."

Tothis end, contacts 52 (Fig. 9) are closed by the actuation of a manually operable key, the circuit leading from the positive line side I00 through the switch 5| in the dotted line position,

contacts '52, to the magnet 80, thence to the negative line side H0. By a succession of impulses'sentto the magnet 80 the sorting designation selector may bedirectly adjusted to the desired initialposition as indicated by the disc -19 (Fig. 9) and record sorting operations for is desirable that the operator be either supplied with a diagram, or a suitable label be placed in juxtaposition to the switches 260a, 2613b so that the operator will know which stitches should be manipulated to effect the sorting in accordance with the single selected designation.

While there has been shown and described and. pointed out the fundamental novel features of the invention as applied to a single modification it will be understood that various omissions and substitutions and changes in the form and dctails of the device illustrated and in its operation may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention. It is the intention, therefore, to be limited the designations in successive pairs for causing I said sorting mechanism to be responsive to a successive selected pair of designations to thereby sort out for each sorting run a group of records having either one of a selected pair of designations and reject during the same sorting run all' other groups of records having other designations.

2. In .a sorting machine in which sorting is eiiected for each selected pair of record designations and sorting is eifected in a predetermined sequence according to paired designations, record designation analyzing means, sorting mechanism controlled thereby, selecting means intermediate said analyzing means and said sort sorting mechanism for causing said sorting mechanism to be responsive to selected pairs of designations and including means for operating said selecting means to select pairs of designations in a predetermined sequence, and means including a specially designated card for efiecting the operation of said operating means for efiecting the selection of the next pair of designations utilized to control the sorting mechanism. I a

3. In a sorting machine for sorting in a plu-- rality of sorting operations records containing designations, and for efiecting the sorting of records according to a pair of selected designations, record designation analyzing means, set-up designation representing means under control of the analyzing means for setting up representations appearing on the records analyzed," sorting mechanism for sorting records according to the analysis of selected pairs of designations, selecting means for determining the particular pairs of designations which are to control said orting mechanism, and means controlled by said set-up digit representing means to control said selecting'means to-canse said sorting mechanism' to sort only records bearing a selected pair of designations represented by the records analyzed by said analyzing means and by the set-up designation representing means- 4. In a sorting machine for sorting records containing designations, in combination, record sorting mechanism, record designation analyzing means for controlling said sorting mechanism, means for selecting and determining the particular pairs of designations which are to control upon their analysis said sorting mechanism, set-up designation representing means representing all of the records to be sorted, and means controlled by said set-up means to control said selecting means to cause the latter to'successively select designations in pairs and corresponding to only those actually appearing on the records to be. sorted.

5. In a sorting machine in which sorting is effected ifor each pair of record designations according to designations paired in a predetermined sequence, designation analyzing means, sorting mechanism controlled-thereby, selecting means intermediate said analyzing means and said sorthaving other designations, 9.' reject compartment and a pair, 01 sorting compartments, sorting mechanism operable for selectively sorting records into said sorting comquence, character representing set-up means for representing designations on the records, and means controlled by said set-upJmeans to cause said selecting means to select only such pairs of designations as appear on the records to thereby eliminate sorting operations for non-existing pairs of designations, but cause sorting to be effected whenever one-of a selected pair of designations exists on the records to be sorted.

6. In a sorting machine for sorting records containing designations, each sorting run e'ilecting the sorting of records containing a pair of selected designations, record designation analyzing means, set-up designation means for setting up all the representations of designations appearing on the records, means for retaining said set-up means in designation representing positions during suocessivesorting operations, sorting mechanism for sortingrecords according to the analysis oi" selected pairs of designations, means controlled by said set-up representing means to render said sorting mechanism effective to sort only records bearing designations selected pairs represented by therset-up digit representing means, and means for rendering said represented by the setup means,

'7. In a sorting machine for sorting character designating records according to a selected pair v sequence, character representing set-up means controlled by said analyzing means to represent,

of characters, and a plurality of, sorting opera- 1 tions being effected according to the sequence of all the paired characters which appear in a full complement of records to be sorted, record character designation analyzing means, character set-up means under control ofsaid analyzing means for setting up representations of the characters appearing on records to be sorted, sorting mechanism,-means for selecting pairs of characters including means for operating said selecting means for causing the sorting mechanism to sorting mechanism to be responsive to the next pair of character designations and which are represented by the character set-up means, thereby eliminating idle. sorting for pairs of characters not appearing on records. r

, 8. In a. sorting machine for 'sortingcharacter designating records according'to a selected pair oi characters, and a plurality of sorting operations being effected according to the sequence of allthe paired characters which appea'r'in a full complement of records to be sorted, record character designation analyzing means, character set up means under control of said analyzing means for setting up representations of the characters appearing on records to be sorted, sorting mechanism, means for selecting pairs of characters for c'audng the sorting mechanism to be responsive to either or both characters of the next pair of characters to be selectedfor controlling the sorting of correspondingly designated records in-.

cluding means for operating said selecting means for selecting successive pairs oi characters, and

means to render said selecting, means ineflective when only both of the next selected pair of character designations do not appear on any of the records to be sorted and ,forcausing the sorting mechanism to be responsive to either or both of the next selected pair of character designations and which are represented by the character setup means, thereby eliminating idle sorting'for pairs of characters not appearing on records.

9. In a sorting machine for sorting records,

said records representing by, designations thereon characters according to which sorting operations ensue in selected pairs, a sorting. mechanism including a pair offsorting pockets and a rejectsorting pockets and remaining records insaidreject pocket, selecting means for causing said .sortingmechanism to be responsive to .the desig-= nations in pairs and including means for operating said selecting means for selecting desigtnations in pairs according to a predetermined pear on the records analyzed to thereby elimi-' nate sorting operations ior non-existing pairs of designations.

10. In a sorting machine for sorting records in a plurality of sorting runs, said records representing -by designations thereo'rncharacters according to which sorting operations ensue, a

sorting mechanism including a pair of sortingpockets and a single reject pocket, record designation analyzing means, means controlled by saidrecord designation analyzing means for controllingsaid sorting mechanism to direct records bearing a selected-pair. of designations in the sorting pockets in each sorting run andremain-J ing records in said reject pocket, selecting means comprising a step by'step operated controller for causing said sorting mechanism to be responsive,

to the designations in'pairs and successively in pairs in a predetermined sequence, character representing set-up means controlled by said analyzing means to represent the characters of t the records analyzed, and means controlled by said set-up means .to cause said controller to be operated a plurality of steps to select for successive sorting runs only such selected pairs of desig-f' nations as appear on the records analyzed'to thereby eliminate sorting runs for non-existing designations in selected pairs.

11. In a sorting machine [for sorting records according to single designations on the records;

but according to a selected pair of designations for each sorting run, an analyzing brush contact in the path of the designations of the records, afu.

sorting mechanism including a pair of electromagnets for selectively sorting the records, a step by step operated circuit controller means for said electro-magnets for efiecting'the selective operal tion of the. sorting-mechanism by the selected pair of designationsduring succeeding sorting runs, means'for effecting the step' by step opf 1 7' eration' of -sai'd circuit controller means, and 

